Everton must seize second chance to sign Arsenal’s Lucas Torreira

Lucas Torreira is reportedly eyeing a move away from Unai Emery’s Arsenal – does this open the door for Premier League underachievers Everton?

Now that the dust is starting to settle on those horrible images at Goodison Park, the impact of Andre Gomes’ broken ankle is starting to resonate at Everton.

Marco Silva’s Toffees have constantly come unstuck in the centre of the park this season so the last thing they needed, as the perennial underachievers look to climb the Premier League table, was to see their most gifted midfielder screaming in agony and eyes bulging as Heung-Min Son wept in anguish.

With Jean-Phillipe Gbamin already stuck on the sidelines, Fabian Delph out of form and Morgan Schneiderlin a shadow of his former self, the sudden absence of Gomes could hardly have been timed much worse.

But, as they old saying goes, when one door closes another opens.

In quotes reported by the Liverpool Echo, Silva has admitted that he plans to hold talks with director Marcel Brands to discuss the possibility to signing another central midfielder in the January transfer window.

And it just so happens that a player The Toffees scouted throughout 2017 and 2018 might soon be on the look out for a fresh start.

According to Tuttomercatoweb, Lucas Torreira has grown tired of life on the bench at Arsenal and the little Uruguayan will hold a meeting with the club’s chiefs in order to discuss a January exit.

Tenacious, aggressive and blessed with boundless energy, the 23-year-old is exactly the sort of all-action enforcer that would give a rather one-paced Everton a whole new dimension and offer some much-needed protection to a vulnerable backline.

Everton were big fans of Torreira during his Sampdoria days, according to Calciomercato, and even tried to sign him before he sealed a £26 million move to the Emirates at the start of last season (BBC).

18 months on, Everton need Torreira more than ever in this post-Idrissa Gana Gueye era. And he might just be tempted to consider taking a step back in order to establish himself once again as one of the most impressive young midfielders in Europe.